West Wing Wiki:Policies
UNDER REVISEMENT AS OF 2019 :These policies are still undergoing editing. If you wish to give your opinion or help by adding helpful or removing unhelpful policies, please discuss this on the talk page. Please find below a list of policies for usage on this site. Layout guide Depending on what the article is about, each type has a different layout style. In-universe *Layout for character articles *Layout for city articles *Layout for building articles *Layout for State articles *Layout for Country articles *Layout for event articles *Layout for job articles Out-of-universe *Layout for season articles *Layout for episode articles *Layout for cast articles *Layout for production staff articles Naming of articles Articles should be named as accurately as possible. Characters *Articles about characters should be the name the character was known most as. Titles, such as military ranks or titles of nobility, should be omitted. **If a full name is given, though it is not commonly used, the article should begin with it. For example, the article should be listed as Joey Lucas, but should start with "Josephine Lucas, more commonly known as Joey Lucas..." Episodes Episodes should be named as they are displayed on-screen. If the name conflicts with another article of the same name, the in-universe article wins and the episode article is disambiguated with an "(episode)" at the end of it. Disambiguations If there are many articles which use the same word, a disambiguation page is generally a good idea. For example, there are many people with the surname of Bartlet, so it is better for that name simply to be a disambiguation page. Should a forename be commonly used then each character which has that forname should be disambiguated by the first episode that they appeared in, with the name becoming a disambiguation page. Perspective In-universe In-universe refers to people and events of The West Wing universe and not in the real world, though not exclusively. Characters are in-universe, but the actors who play them are not. Exceptions are people and organisations which appear or are referred to in The West Wing and also exist(ed) in the real world, i.e., the White House. Information about characters or events from real world sources should appear under a Behind the scenes subheading. Should wikipeadia have an article about the same aricle, a link to it can be created by putting on the article page. In-universe articles should never refer to The West Wing as being a show. This includes naming members of the cast and comparing characters to real-life people. This should also appear in a Behind the scenes section. Out-of-universe Out-of-Universe refers to an article which is written from a real life point of view. This includes actors, events, etc., that acknowledge The West Wing is fictional. Use of material from Wikipedia Material directly copied from Wikipedia is frowned upon. As an individual wiki, we strive to be unique. If we simply copy all articles from Wikipedia, then there is no reason for this wiki's existance. Should any information on a page be copied from Wikipedia, should be placed at the bottom of the page. Headings Please use the (heading) markup for headings, and not the ' (bold) markup. Example: This is a heading which produces: This is a heading If you use this markup, a table of contents can automatically be generated and sections can be automatically numbered. Headings also help readers identify where they are most likely to find specific information on an article. Capitalise the first letter only of the first word and of any proper nouns in a heading, and leave all of the other letters in lower case. Avoid links within headings. Avoid overuse of sub-headings. Usage and spelling Though users speak many varieties of English, we prefer standard American English spelling, punctuation, and word usage. This is because ''The West Wing is an American television show. A frequently noticed example of American English vs. British English involves words that end in "or" vs. "our". In British English, for example, colour is spelled with "our", whereas American English spells it "color". The latter is the preferred style. In keeping with the aforementioned standard, dates should place the number first, e.g. November 23, not 23rd November. Should the title of an article differ in different varieties of English, the American English title should be the article title, with alternate names being used as redirects. Please use complete sentences. Tense In-universe pages are preffered to be written in past tense. Real world articles about cast and crew are in present tense as they are real and events that are ongoing. The first reason for this is that The West Wing has ended, with very little chance of it returning. Secondly, it provides consistency throughout the wiki. Do not speculate about characters' futures after the show or after they left. Any information that is not known is simply the extent of knowledge, it does not need to be stated. Do not jump back and forth between tenses; this is confusing. Do not include theories, speculation or hypothesis in any articles. You can do so in the East Wing, a forum specifically for the community to do this. Image use Images are encouraged on articles, with a few exceptions. In-universe For in-universe articles, images should be screenshots and should be sourced as being screen shots. Promotional images that have been specially photographed, posed or photo-manipulated to be used as a promotional image should not be used as the characters are often in a pose that is not of an in-universe style. Out-of-universe and story articles For episodes, a promotional image is acceptable to be the main image of the episode, encouraged to be an image of the episode's title. Users are encouraged to use screenshots throughout the body of the episode plot to add flavor to the article. Promotional images should not be used. Real world articles such as cast and crew articles may use any other relevant images that have been properly sourced and tagged with the appropriate copyright tag. Quotes It is best that quotes are not added to any articles, as it is debatable how long these sections can be. Even if a number of quotes is agreed on, it is then difficult to agree which ones are placed on to the article. Links There is no need to link a keyword every time it occurs in an article; this is redundant. The one exception is if the keyword occurs under two or more different headings, as some readers may only read one section of an article rather than the entire page. Not everything needs an article. For example, goldfish does not need an article, as there is nothing particularly interesting and/or necessary for readers to know other than that C.J. has one, something which can be noted on both her and Danny's articles. The fish itself could have an article, however. In some cases, however, it may be desirable to link to a specific Wikipedia article. This is primarily for topics such as TV shows, movies, individuals, and technical terms that otherwise do not have their own articles. In this case, the link should be formed this way: Goldfish. However, always check to make sure there isn't actually an article on the subject on this wiki. As noted above, however, mundane terms do not need links, so there is no need to link to the Wikipedia article on, once again, "goldfish" as most readers will not need an explanation of the term. Using links to redirect readers to another page is only necessary if a related topic cannot be covered in the original article without digressing too far from the article's main topic. There is no need, for example, to place the synopsis, viewer ratings, or uncredited cast for a television story on separate pages and redirect readers to those pages. This can contribute to too many red links in an article if those pages do not yet exist, and can be annoying. Citation In-universe articles Telling readers where a statement can be verified is important. Don't assume that others have the same level of knowledge about The West Wing as you do. Cite often, cite accurately. Format your citations according to these guidelines: When citing an episode, use brackets and then the name of the episode, in italics and linked, e.g: *(Pilot) which produces: *(Pilot) If you encounter a statement that obviously needs a citation, but you don't have the time or knowledge to correct it, type , which produces: Try to avoid words like "frequently" or "often". Usage of these words require citation of several instances of that event, for example: "Toby often comes into conflict with other members of the staff." This would require multiple sources to prove that it was "often". Should you come across a sentence that seems to need more citations, but you don't have the time or the knowledge to correct it, type , which produces Out of universe articles Telling readers a statement that can be verified is important. For out of universe articles (those about the real world) we use the same system as Wikipedia; Footnotes. The sources must have reference tags around the source In the See also section at the bottom of the article or . This will collect the cited sources at the base of the article. If while editing you come across a cited piece of information which has no source you can place the tag beside it which states a source needs to be cited. Sources Sources must be verifiable, please do not cite sources such as; fan forums, fan blogs, or other truly unofficial material. Reports in major media are also acceptable. Other sites that can be edited by a large number of people should be avoided, for example Wikipedia or the Internet Movie Database (Imdb). Category:West Wing Wiki